Student Loans: It’s no wonder the public increasingly dislikes the Occupy crowd. Among their brilliant ideas is a campaign to encourage pampered students to default on college loans. Yeah, that’ll win over Middle America.

The left-wing Huffington Post quoted New York University professor Andrew Ross as telling the Occupy crowd in New York recently about the “harrowing personal testimony” and the “suffering and humiliation of people who believe their debts will be unpayable in their lifetime.”

The horror!

So Ross and a variety of other Occupy miscreants have started up something called the Occupy Student Debt campaign, which hopes to get 1 million students to default on their college loans. “Student loan debt,” they say, “is poisoning the pursuit of higher education.”

Oh, and they also want all public colleges to be free, all existing debt forgiven, and interest-free education loans. Apparently, colleges have given up trying to impart wisdom, prudence or maturity on their students. These kids, and the brain-dead professors backing them, don’t know the first thing about student debt.

First, about a third of students don’t borrow any money for college. And the average debt per borrower is just $22,000 for those attending public four-year colleges and $28,000 for those going to private colleges, according to the College Board.

What’s more, these figures are up only 11%, after inflation, over the past decade. None of this suggests a student debt crisis.

And given that graduates can expect to earn $22,000 more each year than those with only a high school diploma, the average borrower will still come out well ahead after a few years.

It’s true that some graduates wind up with a mountain of debt — mostly kids who went to elite private schools. But are we really supposed to believe that these kids were smart enough to graduate from such colleges but too dumb to understand how much it would cost? In any case, no one put a gun to their heads and forced them to sign the loan documents.

The Occupiers also whine about the “unjust system” of “predatory loans,” overlooking the fact that just 5% of the loans last year were made by private companies. Almost all the rest came through federal loan programs.

They also complain about rising college costs, but blame the wrong villain. It’s not predatory lenders who are driving up college costs, it’s the massive effort on the part of government to shield students from the true cost of a college education — through the ever-increasing number of grants, tax breaks, subsidized loans and direct spending.

In just the past decade, college financial aid has climbed an astonishing 139%, and now accounts for more than half of all college costs, according to the College Board. As any Economics 101 student knows, government subsidies only serve to fuel inflation by increasing demand while giving suppliers the freedom to jack up prices.

So the solution to college costs isn’t to attack bankers, but call for cutbacks on the scale of all this financial aid.

And, finally, the Occupy crowd complains that too many students can’t find jobs to pay off their debt. With unemployment still topping 9% and more than 25 million Americans unable to find full-time jobs, they may have a point there.

But as we’ve long argued in this space, the solution to this particular problem is to fire President Obama, whose policies have produced the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression.

In the end, what these students want is simply to foist still more college costs onto everyone else, while keeping all the benefits of a college degree to themselves. These people aren’t progressives. They’re just spoiled brats.

A fire starts inside a chemical plant and the alarm goes out to fire departments miles around. After crews have been fighting the fire for over an hour, the chemical company president approached the fire chief and said, “All of our secret formulas are in the vault in the center of the plant. They must be saved! I will give $100,000 to the engine company that brings them out safely!”
The crews try, but no one can get through. Then another fire truck, filled with a volunteer fire company of men over 65, comes roaring down the road and drives straight into the middle of the inferno. The other men watch unbelieving as the old timers hop off of their ancient rig and heroically extinguish the fire, saving the secret formulas.

The company president walks over to reward the volunteers. “What do you guys plan to do with the money?” the president asks the group.

The firetruck driver looks him right in the eye and answers, “Well, the first thing we’re going to do is fix the f**king brakes on that truck.”

There is a list of ten statements beginning with “You cannot …” that are popularly attributed to Honest Abe Lincoln.

The 10 “Cannots” are simple in their brilliance.

They sound like statements Lincoln would have penned and are frequently quoted and attributed to him.

However, Lincoln didn’t write them. They were authored in 1916 by the Rev. William J. H. Boetcker, a Presbyterian clergyman and pamphlet writer.

In 1942 the Committee for Constitutional Government, a lobby backed by the newspaper publisher Frank Gannett, distributed hundreds of thousands of copies of a leaflet with an authentic Lincoln quote on one side entitled, “Lincoln on Limitations.” On the reverse was a list of Boetcker’s maxims, properly attributed in a footnote.

Somehow, Boetker’s words came to be ascribed to Lincoln. In 1949 an Ohio congresswoman, Frances P. Bolton, read them as Lincoln’s into the Congressional Record. Look magazine reprinted them with the suggestion that “Its about time for the country to remember.”

Attempting to correct the record, Rep. Stephen M. Young inserted into the Congressional Record, in 1950, an article from Harper’s magazine, written by a Lincoln scholar, Albert A. Wolman, listing most of the ”Ten Cannots” and other material falsely attributed to Lincoln.

The 10 Cannots:

1)You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

2)You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.

3)You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

4)You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
5)You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.

6)You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.

7)You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

8)You cannot establish security on borrowed money.

9)You cannot build character and courage by taking away men’s initiative and independence.

10)You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

A former Black Panther Party member is warning of potential violence at the Republican National convention next year.

Brandon Darby explained to a group of conservatives gathered in Orlando, Fl., he left the Black Panthers because he loved America & didn’t want it destroyed.
He began to sour on the Panthers long before but the last straw was in 2008, when he witnessed the screening of a training video prior to the Republican Convention.
It was being shown to a group of naïve
kids on how to properly make Molotov cocktails to shut down the convention.

“Anarchists were showing videos of throwing Molotov cocktails at corporate systems,” Darby said. The ingredients were bought at a local big box and built using tampons as wicks with oil laced into the gasoline “to better stick to the skin,” like homemade napalm. Darby said something snapped in his consciousness when these radicals began openly calling for shutting down the convention by any means possible, simply because they didn’t like what the Republicans and Sarah Palin were saying.

He said, in 2008, a definite structure of planners had set up a three-part division of responsibilities in the leftist camp:

1)The Reds, the hardcore anarchists dressed in black, whose sole aim was to fight the police;
2)The Yellows, who were tasked with blocking roads to the Xcel site; and
3)The Greens, a loosely knit collection of about 10,000 routine protestors.

Darby’s story is one that should be the example for all disadvantaged youth to heed.

A runaway at an early age, he wandered through his teen runaway life before getting sucked into the Black Panther Party. Darby turned FBI informant after meeting Police Major John Bryson, who was in charge of New Orleans’s famed Ninth Ward. After Bryson rescued a former Panther stranded by Katrina in 2005, he started to realize that police do care and that “not all cops are pigs.”
Of his accomplishments was the co-founding and directing of the Common Ground Relief organization in New Orleans’ 9th Ward. After his time as a FBI informant, he courageously refused to enter into the FBI’s ‘Witness Protection Program’.

With all that is currently happening, it’s not hard to believe they are busy planning something similar for 2012. We would be wise to heed his warning.

One day, while crossing the street, a US Senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the gates. “Welcome to Heaven,” says St. Peter. “It seems there is a problem. We seldom see a Government official around these parts, so we’re not sure what to do with you.”

“No problem, just let me in”, says the man. Saint Peter says, “Well, I’d like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we’ll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.

“Really, I’ve made up my mind. I want to be in heaven”, says the Senator.

“I’m sorry, but we have our rules.” And with that, St.Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course.

In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and fellow politicians who had worked with him. Everyone seems very happy and dressed in elegant attire. They run to greet him, shake his hand,
and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne. Also present, is the devil. He is very nice guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes.

They are having such a good time that before he realizes, it is time to go. Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator ascends.

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens to heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him. “Now it’s time to visit heaven.” So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

“Well, you’ve spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.”

The senator reflects for a minute, then answers: “Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.” Saint Peter proclaims,
“Your Vote is Cast”.

With that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he’s in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.

“I don’t understand”, stammers the senator. “Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there’s just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?”

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, “Yesterday we were campaigning….Today you voted.”

I was going to write about the leader of Occupy Miami, but Godfather Politics did it quite well. I did, at times, editorialize. Editorial comments will be represented by an [EC].

Godfather Politics: Most Americans believe that the Occupy movements are just about Wall Street, banks, big business and the wealthy. However, others are using the Occupy movement for completely different purposes.

Did you know that the founder and spokesperson of Occupy Miami, Mohammad Malik,

Malik

is also the director of the south Florida chapter of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations)?

Malik is also well known for his involvement in several other radical Islamic organizations. He is also a very outspoken hater of Israel [EC: Imagine that. A member of CAIR who’s a radical & hates Israel].

At one anti-Israeli protest, Malik was seen wearing Hamas clothing and leading the protesters chanting “Nuke Israel” and “Go back to the oven!” Malik was referring to the Jewish Holocaust when Nazi Germany sent over six million Jews to their deaths in the gas chambers and ovens. [EC: Isn’t it nice that radical Moslems & Nazis have a common interest? Just like in World War II. Unite, not divide! Togetherness is were it’s at, man]

In 2010, Malik held a CAIR dinner where the keynote speaker was an unindicted co-conspirator [EC: sorry, no such thing. It’s just conspirator] in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Imam Siraj Wahhaj, the Bomber

Siraj Wahhaj has repeatedly called for the Islamic overthrow of the United States by whatever means possible and he has openly defended the convicted bombers in the World Trade Center attack. [EC: That Siraj; he’s such a jokester. I heard he headlines at the Laugh Palace in Tehran]

It should also be no surprise to know that Malik is an ardent supporter of a free Palestinian state. Malik has been quoted numerous times in the local Miami media and he has done nothing to hide it or his hatred for Jews and Israel.

He even blames Israel for most of the terrorism in the world, which I find rather curious since the vast majority of terrorist attacks have been launched by radical Muslims against non-Jewish targets.

Israeli Security Wall

[EC: The only reason for that is thanks to Israeli security measures. If they were as politically correct as Europe or us, they would have been wiped out already]

And if you think that Malik and his involvement in Occupy Miami is an isolated case, think again. Occupy New York has held several anti-Israel protests as well. One of those that have been involved with leading some of the anti-Israeli protests is Fenton Communications, headed by David Fenton.

Fenton also works closely with the George Soros funded Tides Center [EC: No way; Soros is involved?]. Both Fenton and

Tides have been supporters of Hamas, a Palestinian free state and the ending of the Israeli blockade of Gaza. Fenton Communications does business with a number of Islamic firms and organizations including one foundation run by Qatar’s ruler’s wife Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned.

Among Fenton’s staff is senior vice-president Doug Gordon, who spent time working on Capitol Hill and with the Democratic Party, as well as the top aide to Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.

What once started out as a simple protest by mostly ill-educated socialists has now been turned into a platform for radical Muslims and their destroy America and Israel agenda. It’s no longer about the 1 % as much as it is about the American dissenters.

Bob had finally made it to the last round of the very popular game show, “The $5,000,000 Question”. The rules state that Bob is allowed to choose the category of the final question. He told the M.C. that he desired a question on American History.

The big night had arrived. Bob made his way on stage in front of the studio and a very large TV audience. He had become the talk of the week. Bob was the best guest this show had ever seen. The M.C. stepped up to the mic.

“Bob, you have chosen American History as your final question. You know that if you correctly answer this question, you will walk away $5,000,000 dollars richer. Are you ready?”

Bob nodded with a cocky confidence. The crowd went nuts. He hadn’t missed a question all week.

“Bob, your question on American History is a two-part question. As you know, you may answer either part first. As a rule, the second half of the question is always easier. Which part would you like to take a stab at first?”

Bob was now becoming noticeably nervous. He couldn’t believe it, but he was losing his focus. American History was his easiest subject, but still, decided to play it safe. “I’ll try the easier part first.”
The M.C. nodded approvingly. “Here we go Bob. I will ask you the second half first. If you answer correctly I will then ask you the first half.”

The audience silenced with gross anticipation . . .
“Bob, here is your question: And in what year did it happen??”

I’m stunned this story made it to press. It is the AP, friend to all things leftist.

NEW YORK (AP) — During the first two months of the nationwide Occupy protests, the movement that is demanding more out of the wealthiest Americans cost local taxpayers at least $13 million in police overtime and other municipal services, according to a survey by The Associated Press. [Editorial comment: It is much more. The AP survey only accounted for the 18 largest venues.]

The heaviest financial burden has fallen upon law enforcement agencies tasked with monitoring marches and evicting protesters from outdoor camps. And the steepest costs by far piled up in New York City and Oakland, Calif., where police clashed with protesters on several occasions.

Broken down city by city, the numbers are more or less in line with the cost of policing major public events and emergencies. In Los Angeles, for example, the Michael Jackson memorial concert cost the city $1.4 million. Atlanta spent several million dollars after a major snow and ice storm this year. [Editorial comment: A concert cost 1-1/2 million to police? Although ‘Occupy’ is a disaster, it’s not a natural disaster, that can’t be prevented like a storm. Apples to Apples A.P.]

But the price of the protests is rising by the day — along with taxpayer ire in some places.

“What is their real agenda?” asked Rodger Mawhinney as he watched police remove an encampment outside his apartment complex in downtown Oakland. “I’ve gone up and asked them,

Huh??

“What are you truly trying to accomplish? I’m still waiting for an answer.”

The Occupy movement has intentionally never clarified its policy objectives, relying instead on a broad message opposing corporate excess and income inequality. Aside from policing, cleaning and repairing property at dozens of 24-hour encampments, cities have had to monitor frequent rallies and protests. [Editorial comment: If the general public knew the real agenda, these events would all be shut down tomorrow.]

“We’re here fighting corporate greed and they’re worried about a lawn?” said Clark Davis of Occupy Los Angeles, where the city estimates that property damage to a park has been $200,000. [Editorial comment: Yes Clark, the park fairies come out every evening when you’re sleepy sleeping & maintain the park for free. Someone had to pay to construct & maintain that park for you dim wits to occupy it in the first place.]

In Oakland, where protesters temporarily forced the shutdown of a major port, the city has spent more than
$2.4 million responding to the protests. [Editorial comment: Oakland is already $58 million in the red. What’s 2-1/2 million more?]

Sgt. Dom Arotzarena, president of the Oakland Police Officers Association, said Occupy-related costs would soar past $3 million when it’s all said and done. The city, he said, had to pay more for mutual aid when police removed the encampment at City Hall for a second time on Nov. 14, nearly three weeks after its first early morning raid, leading to dozens of arrests.

“A lot of this could’ve been avoided if we stood our ground when we went in there in the first place,” Arotzarena said. “I know we would’ve saved the city a significant amount of money.” [Editorial comment: The police were ordered to pull back after the first raid by spineless politicians.]

In New York City, the police department has spent $7 million in overtime on the protests. But that’s small change given the department’s $4.5 billion budget, which allots money for emergency overtime. Last year, the NYPD spent about $550 million on overtime. [Editorial comment: Yes AP, they’ll never miss a paltry $7 million. They couldn’t use that money elsewhere.]

Pete Dutro, a protester in charge of finances in New York City, called the NYPD’s response “completely unnecessary.” [Editorial comment: Remember Pete, of $700.00 per night hotel fame.]

“It’s $7 million of taxpayers’ money that’s being spent to stifle our First Amendment rights,” he said. “You know, they’ve consistently overreacted.” [Editorial comment: How much more would the aftermath cost if the police didn’t involve themselves.]
End A.P.

Imagine if you will (sound like the Twilight Zone) if the police just said, screw it, we’re not getting involved. These cities would be torn apart. $13 million would look like small change.
The average gullible protestor has not a care or concern of who has to pay for the protection of them or others. They don’t seem to care about who pays to clean up after them. Maybe Mommy or Daddy will pay for it.

On the other hand, the organizers of these movements are well aware of the costs involved. That’s the whole point. Just another way of helping collapse the system. Cloward & Piven.